- The FTC is suing Walmart over allegations that it mismarketed some of its products.
- The commission filed the lawsuit in the District of Columbia on Friday.
- According to the FTC, some of the products in question were made of rayon and not bamboo.
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The Federal Trade Commission is suing Walmart over allegations that the retailer falsely claimed some of its products were made from bamboo or had environmental benefits.
According to the lawsuit, the FTC alleged that Walmart’s marketing and sales of its textile fiber products, including towels, sheets and bras, misrepresented their material as “bamboo” when in fact they were made of rayon.
Rayon is the name for a type of regenerated or manufactured fiber made from cellulose, the lawsuit states. It is made by taking “purified cellulose” from a plant source and turning it into a liquid solution by mixing it with chemicals. The chemical solution then solidifies where it becomes fibers.
“Regardless of the source of the cellulose, the manufacturing process involves the use of hazardous chemicals, and the resulting fiber is rayon and not cotton, wood, or bamboo fiber,” the suit reads.
Some of the products that the FTC claims Walmart falsely advertised online were featured in the lawsuit. This includes an “Ottomanson Bamboo Luxury Bath Towel Set” which lists the fiber content as “100% Bamboo”.
The retailer has also promoted products it claims are made from bamboo as “eco-friendly” and “in harmony with nature,” while the FTC claims that’s not the case because of dangerous air pollutants from the rayon manufacturing process are released.
Walmart did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, which was made outside of normal business hours.
The retailer has had a history of warnings from the FTC about its improper labeling, but the retailer has done little, the lawsuit says. In 2010, the FTC sent out a letter stating that the term “bamboo” may only be used to label or advertise textile products made from fibers obtained directly from the bamboo plant.
It also told Walmart that the lawsuit requires rayon to be described in the labeling of its products. Walmart was “repeatedly engaged in its illegal acts and practices for a period of at least five years,” it said.
This isn’t the only lawsuit Walmart has been involved in over the past year. Last December, a South Carolina jury ordered the retailer to pay $10 million to a woman who said she lost part of her leg after stepping on a rusty nail while shopping in the store.
Then in March, Walmart sued BJ’s Wholesale Club over self-checkout technology.